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A 2,566-page report reveals some of the reasons the Air Force likes Burlington, such as its established military presence and its lower cost to retrofit. It also shows this site will see the greatest civilian impact from the roar.

The mammoth new study uses updated census data to gauge the impact the F-35 could have here, and it cuts both ways.

Burlington is one of six bases under consideration for the new jet, for either 18 or 24 planes to replace the F-16s flying now. Either way, the noise gets worse.

The study concluded between 2,000 and 3,000 more people will be subject to higher noise levels, a 50 to 80 percent increase that extends through five or six Chittenden County neighborhoods.

Low-income people will feel "disproportionate effects," it said, including kids in a couple of area schools.

The report found Burlington is the only one of the six bases that would see a significant increase in human impact from added jet noise.

It also said a new airplane means higher risk of accidents, but said that should fall over time and notes pilots will use flight simulators for some of their training, which means 2 percent fewer flight operations than today. That should reduce crash risk to pilots and civilians.

The new planes would emit less air pollution than F-16s and require fewer hazardous chemicals on base.

The economic impact is also key to the report, which found little new construction needed to put the F-35 here. Employment levels wouldn't change with 18 new jets, but the bigger fleet would mean 260 new military jobs.

The air force secretary will notice something else here: community feedback from the series of public hearings held so far. Hundreds of people and groups spoke out or wrote in to comment on the new plane's potential basing in Vermont, some for, some against -- more than all of the other base communities combined.

The new document doesn't tell us whether any of that feedback will matter in the end. The Air Force study says Hill AFB in Utah and Burlington Air Guard Station remain the "preferred alternative locations" overall. But when environmental factors enter in, the study said Burlington is knocked of the top two and replaced by McEntire Guard Base in South Carolina.